Mary Sharp

Obituary For Mary Sharp

Mrs. Mary Sharp passed December 25, 2013.

Funeral services for Mrs. Mary M. Sharp will be held Saturday, January 4, 2014 at 12 NOON at Shiloh Baptist Church, 111 Everett Circle, Silas Alabama 36919. Interment will follow in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Toxey, Alabama.

Public viewing and family hours will be held from 10:00AM – 12:00 AM prior to the service.

Local services are entrusted to Hayden and Butler Funeral Home, 10031 Crowell Drive, Lisman, Alabama 36912, 205-398-3655.

Mary M. Sharp was born March 30, 1934 in Gilbertown, Alabama to the late Mr. Henry and Olevia Bolden. She was one of 12 children. Mary left Alabama at an early age to live with her Aunt Rosie Kelly in Meridian, Mississippi. She attended Mt. Pleasant Elementary and graduated from Harris High School. While attending Mt. Pleasant Elementary, she met the love of her life, Theron Sharp, Sr. and on June 7, 1953 they were married. From their union, they had six children. Mary accepted Christ at an early age and was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. She could often be found her knees praying or meditating on the scriptures in the wee hours of the night.

The couple moved to Cleveland, Ohio while Mary was still pregnant with their first child. In the new city, they found a church home for their family at Charity Baptist Church (under the late Rev. S.S. Neal). Mary served faithfully as a deaconess, president of the choir, missionary, Christmas & Easter playwright /director, choir member and soloist until she and her husband returned home to the South. Upon their return, they became members of Shiloh B.C. (1996) and Mary served in the choir, and as church recorder.

Mary was well known throughout many Baptist churches in the City of Cleveland and in her hometown in Alabama for her singing. She was a long time member of the gospel group “The Faithful Heirs”. She was often asked to sing at weddings, funerals, reunions and other special events. Her proud moment was to sing under the invitation of the local mayor in her hometown in 2010. Mary often sang popular songs by the late Mahalia Jackson such as “God Specializes”, “Amazing Grace”, “It is no Secret What God Can Do”, and then later the great song by Marvin Sapp, “Never Would Have Made it”, became her life’s testimony.

Mary’s early career started in a doctor office and ended after she came home crying because one of the doctors raised his voice at her. It was that day she decided to go to beauty school. After graduating from Erma Lee Beauty College in 1962, she opened up “Sharp Styling Salon”, at a time when most women were not allowed to work outside of their homes. She continued to own and operate her salon until the death of her husband Theron Sharp, Sr. in November, 2009. It was not just a business; it was a vessel to bless others. Mary often would take her entire day’s income to help a loved one pay their bills, provide free hair styles to the bereaved and “shop talk” was entertainment for all. Her motto was, “If you look good, you will feel good!” Her hobbies included antique and thrift shopping. Mary had many trophies to prove her high series bowling average as a perpetual member of the Southgate Women’s Bowling League in Ohio. She modeled in several fashion shows and enjoyed making her own hats. Mary was known for her stylish and elaborate attire which almost always included one of her own designed hats. Mary departed this life, December 25, 2013. She was preceded her in death, by her husband Theron Sharp Sr., her parents Henry and Olevia Bolden, her sisters Inez Phillips, Hattie Bolden, Lucille Bolden and Rose Ann Causey and her brothers Thomas, Calvin, Roosevelt, and McKinley Bolden.

She leaves to mourn six children, Doris (Donny) Williams, Stone Mountain, GA, Priscilla (Robert) Hill, Euclid, OH, Marilyn (Michael) Pruitt, Stone Mountain, GA, Theron (Gina) Sharp, Dacula, GA, Stephen (Lavesha) Sharp, Meridian, MS, Kimberly (Carl) Tarrance, Locust Grove, GA and Demetrius Sharp, a grandchild whom she highly regarded as her own son; her brother, Henry Bolden (Lois) Gilbertown, AL; three sisters, Lee Dressa Hawkins, Toxey, AL, Edressa Everett, Silas, AL and Clara Edell Pearson, Cleveland, OH., 20 grandchildren: Donnell, Diana, Delisha, Daryl Jr., Shirell, Leigh, Robert Jr., Lamar, Malik, Milan, Shada, Theron III (Trey), Stephon Jr., Selena, Allyssa, Amaya, Mikenzi, Carl Jr., Kiana and Mariah; and 23 great grandchildren, a very dear friend (Minnie) and a host of nieces, nephews, in-laws, other relatives and friends.